The 'No Thanks' Club
Here is Hiram Monserrate, one of only five City Council members to have voted against a 25 percent pay raise for the council.
The others were Michael McMahon, Andrew Lanza, Darlene Mealy, and Tony Avella.
One insider gave me some speculative reasons for why some of them might have voted this way:
McMahon hopes to run for Staten Island Borough President and this vote will give him ammunition to repel Conservative Party accusations that he's a free-spending liberal.
Lanza doesn't care about Council pay because he's going to the state Senate.
Avella, the only declared mayoral candidate, always objected to increases salaries and taking lulus.
My secret brain trust didn't crack the mystery of Mealy.
As for Monserrate, he explained himself to reporters after the vote by saying that he simply doesn't like the process of awarding himself a pay increase.
Here he is. -- Azi Paybarah
Or McMahon was smart enough to know how his probable opponent in the BP race, Oddo, was going to vote and was darn sure to be on the other side since it meant voting No.
Don't hold her no vote against Mealy, she thought she was ordering lunch.
Very courageous votes, all of them. More courageous would be to see which members actually refuse to TAKE the increase.
Avella thought he was being asked if he has a shot in hell at being elected Mayor.
McMahon thought he was being asked if Democrats on Staten Island should even bother getting up in the morning.
let's count on staten island, there are 11 elected officials. one congressman, 2 state senators, 4 assemblymembers, 3 council members, one borough president. the breakdown is 5 dems, 5 republicans, and 1 conservative. just for the record.
oops, forgot the 11th, district attorney, that makes the 5th republican
I bet they councilmen and women voted for pay raises for all their staffers as well.
The staffers will now see their raise go from $25,000/year to $26,000/year, pre-tax.
When will the progressive community begin to understand that Chris Quinn is just a political hack? They should evaluate her on what she does, not on her demographics.
Im so glad to see that the councilmen are able to vote to get large pay raises. What about our people in the Military, Policemen, Fire Fighters that put their lives on the line everyday. Our Military gets a big 2% raise in January 2008. Being a Military Wife I think its rediculous that my husband can put his life on the line for such small compensation. Im really glad to see that NO one cares about all the people that are risking life and limb defending our country. Because you know, someone else will just sign the line. Im very appalled as we just became Active Military this year. My husband was guarding NYC on State active and now went in to the regular army and went to Iraq. The most unbelievable thing to me is he didnt make anymore going to Iraq than working right in NY. Pretty sad considering he was in a combat zone. Maybe we ought to think about these councilmen and senators, etc that think they need pay raises and give the people that really deserve it the money instead.
lisa,
with all due respect to you and your husband for the sacrifices you are making, a little clarity. the poor and the working class have always been the ones marching off to war. that will never change.
jaq: you list 12 elected officials. I count 7 Repuublicans, 1 Conservative running on the Republican line, and 4 Democrats, including one whose district is half in Brooklyn. Another district will switch Dem in January due to the Brooklyn vote.
Congress...Rep
State Senate...1 rep, 1 dem
Assembly...3 Dems (in Jan)...1 rep
BP...Conservative
City Council...2 Reps, 1 Dem
DA...Rep
Surrogate...Rep
Civil....Dem
Rep=7, Con=1, Dem=6
Darlene Mealy is a grassroots community activist, non-politician. This might be hard for some of the readers of this blog to grasp, but maybe she actually has... principles. Maybe she thinks that Council Members are already overpaid for the work they do relative to how the working class people in her district are paid for the work they do. And maybe Bird'seyeview is just bitter because (s)he is one of the Brooklyn hacks whose ass Darlene kicked in the last election. Just guessing...
Lisa, the City Council is not responsible for your husband's salary. Apples and oranges.
If you're going to start counting civil court judges there are four of them not one.
1st of all I do want to clarify. It is apples and oranges as far as my husbands salary is concerned. Im saying in general the POLITICIANS should not be getting such pay raises. What about your firefighters and policemen?They are supposed to protect you and keep your house from burning down. Their lives are at risk also. Who do you think pays the National Guardsmen in The subways in NYC? That are protecting you all? Its great that your councilmen can afford to get pay raises. What about the other people that are living on small salaries? The regular business men and women? How much do they get? Also, I find it amazing how you can comment on my post and not use your name. Im not ashamed to put my name on a post. I believe if your big enough to post a comment you should be big enough to put your name out there.